o28 FLIGHT, 28 December 1950
CIVIL AVIATION NEWS : : s
weather-forecasting in Western Canada—in particular, by makingpossible more advanced prediction of gales and storms along
the British Colombia coast. This is of special interest in viewof the intention to introduce Comets on North Pacific routes
in the not-too-distant future.
HELICOPTERS IN THE HOUSE
TV/TR- Norman Dodds, Labour M.P. for Dartford, has given-*•"- notice of two questions to be put to the Parliamentary
Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The first will be" Whether the inter-departmental committee set up to look into
the potential use of the helicopter has yet made a report, orwhen this can be expected"; and the second: " If, in view of
the many experiments that have been made into the use of thehelicopter for inter-city travel, he will give consideration to the
possibility of introducing a network of helicopter servicesoperating between city centres in the near future; or what is
holding up developments of this kind?"
It is probable that Mr. Dodds will be told that one reason forholding up developments of this kind is the absence of a suitable
helicopter to do the work. B.E.A. is known to have investigatedthe possibilities of several such services in the British Isles in
addition to the experimental one operated across Wales, but theCorporation is understood to be unwilling to consider operating
into cities with a single-engined helicopter.
or helicopter.
A requirement is foreseen for a twin-engined, two-rotor
capable of carrying between 12 and 20 passengers, and in
connection the sketch of a new Bristol helicopter, reproduced
here, is of particular interest. Similar in appearance to the
machine illustrated, the prototype Bristol 173 is nearing com-
pletion and it is expected to fly early in the new year. It has
two Alvis Leonides power units. Many months of test and
development flying must, of course, ensue before this helicopter
could be considered for passenger work. One source of infor-
mation has quoted 1953 as the earliest possible date.
"DEUX PONTS" ON TRIAL
/~*HIEF pilots of several companies have recently been trying^ out the Breguet 76 Deux Ponts. They have included Capts.
Genin and Lambert from T.A.I., Caze and Tuffal from AirFrance, Loubry and Combard from U.A.T., and others from
Sabena and K.L.M.
It will be remembered that the significance of the Breguettype numbers 76-1 and 76-3 is that the prototype had four
1,600 b.h.p. Gnome Rhone power units, while the 76-3 has fourPratt and Whitney R-2800-CA18s giving 2,400 b.h.p. each for
take-off. The span of the aircraft is 140ft lOin, and the maxi-mum weight 106,0001b.
C. OF A. FOR 'FLYING CAR"
A LTHOUGH it is generally true to say that all dual-purpose•** devices suffer to some extent by comparison with those
produced for a single intention, there is no reason to doubt theusefulness and unique abilities of some of them. Very many
successful amphibious aircraft have been produced, and nowcomes a report that a "flying car" has reached the stage at
which a Certificate of Airworthiness can be granted by the U.S:Aeronautics Administration. It was due to be issued on Dec.
21st. Known as the Fulton Airphibian, this ingenious vehiclewas seen by many people in this country at the Daily Express
Air Pageant at Gatwick three summers ago. A brief descriptionof the machine appeared in Flight of August 5th, 1948.
Power is provided by a six-cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled unit, and as an aircraft as well as in road form the machine
has four small wheels in conventional road configuration, thefront two steering in the normal manner. Accommodation is
provided for two people side-by-side. As an aircraft, the vehiclehas a cruising speed in the region of 110 m.p.h. and
a landing speed of 48 m.p.h. On the ground, with wings,tail assembly and airscrew removed, it is suitable for cruising
at speeds up to 50 m.pJi. Consumption is 20 m.p.g. on theground and about 13 m.p.g. in the air.
The Fulton Airphibian is named after its inventor, Mr. RobertFulton, who plans to put it into production immediately at Dan-
bury, Conn. A target selling price is 6,000 dollars (£2,150).
" DEUX PONTS " PROGRESS : One of France's promising large trans-
port aircraft, now well known by its name "Deux Ponts," has
recently been sampled, as mentioned on this page by the chwf
pilots of several potential customers. In this new photograph the
aircraft carries Air France markings.
ANGLO-FRENCH CONTROL AGREEMENT
"DEGULATIONS governing non-scheduled flights by British
-*- *• aircraft into or through France and French North Africa,
and by French aircraft into or through the United Kingdom
have, hitherto, been based upon informal provisional arrange-
ments. From January 1st next such flights will be governed by
provisions recently agreed between the governments of the two
countries in an Exchange of Notes. Full details are contained
in M.C.A. Information Circular No. 120/1950.
For flights to Metropolitan France and Algiers, application
for permission can be made direct to the Secretariat, General
a l'Aviation Civile et Commerciale, Direction de la Navigation
et des Transports Aeriens, 93, Boulevard du Montparnasse,
Paris; a minimum of 24 hours' notice must be given. For flights
to French protectorates (Morocco and Tunisia), or to other parts
of the French Union, applications must also be made direct
either to the Residents-General of France at Rabat and Tunis,
giving three days' notice, or to the heads of the territories, giving
five days' notice.
In the case of military aircraft on delivery flights in the hands
of civil crews, prior permission must be obtained through
diplomatic channels, and applications should be made to the
Ministry of Civil Aviation at Ariel House, London, W.C.I.
CONVAIRLINERS FOR ETHIOPIA
"\17HEN Ethiopian Airlines, Inc., complete their fifth year* » of operation in February next year they will have flown
some five million miles. The figure on December 1st was4,874,691 miles.
In 1951, several services which have hitherto been flown withDC-3s will be taken over by new Convairliners, which, apart
from providing pressurized comfort in an area where heat andturbulence are often severe below 12,000ft, will reduce appre-
ciably the time taken to travel from the capital, Addis Abbaba,to cities in the surrounding countries.
When the Convairliners are put into service, take-off timefor Cairo will be at the convenient hour of 10.30 a.m., but,
because the journey-time will be reduced by three hours, arrivalat Cairo will be the same hour as it •'is on the existing DC-3
service. To quote another example, flying time to Nairobi—at present 2hr 55min—will be halved.
ARGENTINA-GERMANY AGAIN
FOR the first time since 1933 Argentina and Germany areagain linked by air. Aerolineas Argentinas have opened
a once-a-week passenger service from Buenos Aires to Frankfurt,
via Rio, Natal, Dakar, Lisbon and Paris, using 4-8-seat DC-6s.
One aircraft will be used to make each return trip, although a
replacement will be held available at Amsterdam where, under
an agreement with K.L.M., the operating machine will be over-
hauled before making the return flight. The first DC-6 to fly
the route carried one passenger—Dr. G. Timmerman, commer-
cial attache; at the Argentine Consulate in Frankfurt.
Aerolineas Argentinas have
recently introduced new in-
signia, an illustration of which
appears here.
The new bi
aircraft
0gU IIUW UUJJIUrill '«KW
Aerolineas Argentinas,